40-year-old owns biking courses

Dec 12, 2013

Photo by: Courtesy of Kevin ReedCompetitive biker Kevin Reed practices in April. He won the D22 Iowa State Motocross Series for the 40-year-old class. He said he began preparations for the race several months ahead of time. There were races sprinkled throughout Iowa in Montezuma, Winterset, Cedar Rapids and New Hartford.

After biker Kevin Reed took 17 years off from racing, he trained and came back to win the D22 Iowa State Motocross Series this year for the 40-year-old age range.“I wondered what I could accomplish if I fully committed to racing the series,” Reed said. “I began preparing several months before the first race in April — mostly running on an elliptical and cross training for agility. I purchased a lightly used KTM brand 2-stroke 250cc as a race bike.”He said he took up the sport at the age of 15 and competed in races by age 16. Initially he didn’t take the competition seriously and his improvement was gradual. In 1991, he finished 10th in the state in the highly competitive 125 novice class.By 1992, he was in the intermediate class, but being in college kept him from reaching his potential.The next two years he raced in local competitions on a bigger 250cc bike. Then in 1995, he really took a break from dirt biking when he sold all of his motocross gear after getting married.He said after purchasing bikes for his children, he felt the urge to get his own. In 2010, he said he bought a bike and practiced on his MX track for 35 consecutive nights. “It felt great to get into riding form again,” Reed said. “But chasing my own dust was not enough. I found an upcoming race in August 2011 at the old Fun Valley Ski area in Montezuma. I went on a Saturday and entered in the over 30-year-old class. I was competitive but not nearly fast enough or in good enough shape.”He raced at the 250 intermediate class at the 2012 Washington county fair, but finished in the middle of the pack.In December of 2013, he committed to racing in the D22 series. Having just turned 40 in March, he could now compete in that class. Reed said there were races in Montezuma, Winterset, Cedar Rapids and New Hartford from April to September. He said he finished in the top two in every event. He came back from last place during some of those races.